Big Blue Huddle

A bad team trading for a too old QB.  Didnt work too well for the Jets. 

You fire a GM coming off a 4 star draft?  That's not smart.  That flea flicker play that probably should have been a TD caused Curt Warner, who rarely criticizes a QB to come down hard on Jones.  Tell me, if you're Dexter or Burns or anyone on the D and you see a QB like Jones not make plays that any decent QB should make, does that not affect the entire team performance?  The Giants OL, prior to the Thomas injury, went from horrible to decent with the addition of average players.  Even an average QB would make a huge impact. 

The intervention needed by the Giants is to have Mara replaced.  And, remove the relatives from certain front office roles.  I'm inclined to agree that Mara doesn't meddle the way he used to.  That is, because, in my opinion, it was his meddling with respect to the Jones & Barkley contracts that pretty much got us in the mess we're in.  Jones' performance in 2022 was really the very definition of when to franchise a player.  But, Mara's meddling, in my opinion, resulted in Barkley being franchised.  The rest is history

If Travy continues to perform at a high level, especially with a diminished line resulting from the Thomas injury, does that impact on the decision to basically let Barkley go.  If Tracy continues to perform at a high level, it would suggest Schoen knew what he was doing in terms of RB by committee.  Paying Tracy a rookie salary ad RB1 has the added benefit of cuttingSingletary next year with a nice savings bump.

Too early to call him a bust but his recent attitude is very disturbing.  I dont knock him for not being a CB1.  But, he's clearly CB1 on this team when he plays as he has been playing until recently.  And, for the most part, he's done a respectable job guard the opposing best WR.  After last night's game, and this is from a Schoen supporter, another huge mistake was made in this draft trading down a pick to get Banks when Joey Porter Jr was available.  Porter looks to be a legitimate CB1

The Giants wanting to hire an old coach like BB is a good question to discuss.  But, why he would be receptive, in my opinion, is not.  I've read in multiple places that his motivation for wanting to coach at his age is passing Shula as the all time winning coach.  He had far better chances of doing that with several clubs likely to need a HC including 2 in our division

I'm totally on board with bringing in these senior citizens this year to stabilize the OL and prior to the Thomas injury, the combination of high draft picks, reasonably priced free agents and seniors worked to the extent that the OL was serviceable and sometimes effective.  That said, whether or not one or both of Neal and Ezeudu work out, the Giants need to draft for the OL at least 1 pick every year going forward

At this time, I don't even see how its a conversation.  He was coach of the year taking a bad team and winning a playoff game on the road.  Last year, he once again had a bad team and probably had a better record than the talent warranted considering the injuries and lack of depth.  This season has more talent than previously but not at the most important position. 

Quote from: Philosophers on October 11, 2024, 02:23:25 PMThe job he was doing prior to this season was subpar.  IMHO, what he's dine lately has brought him up to the mean.

In Schien's first, a crappy team went to the playoffs and won a game.  He inherited a crappy team and made it marginally better thru Daboll, his HC choice.  It also helped that the ball bounced right.  The 2nd year was a little deceiving.  They were still a crappy team but with Daboll not having a great year, especially the start but the injuries.  I also think the 1st year success changed 2nd year planning negatively i.e. Waller signing.  I think this year had a more balanced smarter approach to drafting, free agent signing and new coaches.  I think Schoen and Daboll sre ascending and hopefully the team record will as well.  Keep in mind these guys were new at their jobs when hired and sometimes it takes time.  I am encouraged

Plenty of season left to decide but there's also plenty of time for an injury that could make the decision for them.  I think Schoen and Daboll would like to bring in their own rookie QB and rebuild the team around the QB rookie wage scale.  This team needs a good CB and DT to take some of the load off Dex and probably another RB and TE and another OL unless Evan Neal steps up to the plate.  That's a whole lot if needs but doable if they can find a QB in the draft who can contribute quickly.  Also, Schoen's last draft seems very good into the late rounds so maybe he has the hang of it.  I don't see Jones taking enough of a pay cut to make this happen

I'm not so sure that the lack of an effective running game is a huge surprise.  The majority of the line is new and the line coach is new as are the  RBs.  Daboll's emphasis was and is to improve the passing game.  The OL is blocking pretty well in that area and much better than past years.  The season is still early, less than 25% of the season and not that much practice time for the new OL to come together during the preseason.  If they stay healthy, I'm guessing that the running game will get better as everyone on the offense learns to play together.  It doesn't have to be great, just adequate enough for the passing game.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on September 28, 2024, 04:30:56 PMThe Athletic's take on the trade:



Just when you thought it was safe to print out those rosters and depth charts as the entire NBA enters training camp this coming week, the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves shake things up. The Athletic's Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski reported a massive and confusing trade on the precipice of being completed by the two teams late Friday night.

The Knicks are set to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns from the Wolves, and are sending back Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop and a protected first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons. The Charlotte Hornets are also involved in the trade to help balance out salaries in this move for the Knicks.

If you're scratching your head on this one, join the club. It's kind of a bizarre trade in many ways, and it's a massive gamble for both teams. Best way to make heads and tails of this trade is to bust out a red pen and throw down some trade grades.

(No offense to the Hornets grabbing random role-player salaries and secondary draft compensation, but they will not be graded today. This is like a pass/fail pop quiz for them and we'll give them a pass for absorbing salary dumps to even out the trade.)

New York Knicks acquire Karl-Anthony Towns

On the surface, this can make some sense for the Knicks. There have been rumors about them going after Towns for some time now, and it finally came to fruition. Towns is a four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA Third Team selection and one of the best outside shooting big men we've ever seen. The best, if you ask him. While Towns is much maligned on the internet, he is a very good player and one of the better big men in the NBA. He can score anywhere on the floor, is an exceptional and effortless outside shooter and is a pretty good rebounder, as well. The Knicks desperately need a center with Mitchell Robinson injured, Isaiah Hartenstein off to Oklahoma City and Jericho Sims as the only real center-sized player left on the roster (you can throw Precious Achiuwa in there sparingly).

Towns absolutely fills a need, and he does so while not disrupting the flow of the Knicks' offense. They can now play five-out, put tremendous pressure on the perimeter and might even be able to mimic a little bit of what Boston did offensively in its championship run — at least in terms of how the Celtics attack and bombard from the 3-point line. Remember: The Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges this summer, and paired him with OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson, as well. So there's a ton of versatility and perimeter defense. Randle was always an odd fit once Brunson came to the Knicks and quickly established himself as an MVP candidate. Keeping Randle happy with touches and opportunities was always a bit of a ticking bomb because it could very easily take the Knicks out of what was working.

All that said, New York is doing two confusing things here. I wasn't a big fan of the DiVincenzo signing a year ago because the Knicks didn't appear to need him much at the time. I thought they needed to prioritize more size on the wing or in the interior. All of that changed when Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett were moved in the Anunoby deal. At that point, DiVincenzo became indispensable in their rotation and played the best ball of his career. It's not that you can't move him in a deal, even a deal like this. But there was a lot of great vibes gathering by bringing in another Villanova player with Bridges, and the "Nova Knicks" had everybody legitimately excited. They immediately break that up to acquire Towns (RIP Nova Knicks: 2024-2024). Although, this means more playing time for Deuce McBride, and he can really play.

The other confusing part about this for the Knicks is I'm pretty sure Towns drove Tom Thibodeau wild during their time together in Minnesota. Forget, even, the whole Towns and Jimmy Butler thing. Towns would often talk about the defensive tenets that were utilized in his time with the Kentucky Wildcats, as Thibs was pleading with the team to buy in defensively to what he wanted the Wolves to do. Towns has the capability to be a good defensive player. I know that because prior to the Rudy Gobert acquisition, there was always one month of the season in which Towns played great defense and you'd start talking yourself into him finally turning the corner on that end of the floor. Then his bad tendencies would come back and that sentiment would vanish. The fun part was you never knew which month it was going to happen. Towns is too aggressive going for blocked shots and not timely enough to actually affect the shot. That leaves the offensive boards open for the opponent. He also struggles with help positioning and rotations when he's the primary defensive big man. That's the biggest part of Thibodeau's defense with his big men.

The Knicks badly need Towns to be solid defensively. They're going to be up against an incredible Boston offense, a potentially dangerous Philadelphia squad with Joel Embiid (a Towns nemesis), and the relentless attacking of Giannis Antetokounmpo at the rim and Damian Lillard in a pick-and-roll on the perimeter with Milwaukee. Not to mention teams like Orlando, Indiana, Cleveland and occasionally Miami in the mix. New York desperately needs Towns to play the best, most consistent defense of his career and to rebound against physicality. The good news is when Robinson is back for the Knicks, he and Towns can play alongside each other. Towns showed that often with Gobert in Minnesota.

Even though this is a talent upgrade in the frontcourt where the Knicks were lacking, I'm still confused why this is the move for the Knicks. Their floor is raised but I'm not sure they'll get to that higher ceiling. Towns has to change the way he's played on defense to make this a massive win for the Knicks. It also removes any glimmer of financial flexibility Brunson gave them by taking a discount with his extension. Towns is signed through 2027 for $160 million and then has a $61 million player option for the 2027-28 season.


Grade: B-

One of the major reasons for Brunson he taking less money at least in the short run is that it gave the Knicks the flexibility to bring in a big time player.  So, they did that and the Atlantic author criticizes them for losing that flexibility

I don't know anything about the Jags front office but I suspect that if Schoen called and offered to swap QBs even up, the Jags would hang up after they stopped laughing.  If the Jags called Schoen and offered to swap QBs, Schoen would make the deal in a heartbeat.  And, to those Schoen bashers, I suspect every other GM in the league would do the same.

Quote from: BlueMoshik on September 11, 2024, 09:48:07 AMThe four candidates were Lovie Smith, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, and Coughlin. Mara has spoken about him and Accorsi not bneing enthusiastic about Coughlin when they met him, because of his over-the-top personality. Accorsi also didn't think Coughlin was a great game-manager. Coughlin was Wellington Mara's top choice.

I remember it the same way in that Coughlin was Wellington's choice and Accorsi did not agree but had to go along.  I don't remember John Mara having an opinion one way or the other.  Not a fan of Wellington although I recognize his contribution to the development of the league.  I have no use for John Mara.  In my opinion, John is the reason Schoen did not franchise Jones because Mara wanted Barkley back.  If Mara is not meddling currently, it's because meddling set back the franchise with his meddling on Jones and Barkley and it was clearly a major factor in what's going on now. 

Can somebody tell me how how to block a specific poster?